


Facing the Sun

by TwilightKnight17



Series: Hours 'Verse [3]
Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Timelines, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, There Are No Therapists, an excuse to practice writing the others as I work towards P4, loose interpretations of concepts, this universe's equivalent of The Answer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-01 09:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17
Summary: Just because they're not grieving a loss, doesn't mean everything is perfect. Reality echoes with what is, what was, what might have been...or should have been. Everyone is adjusting to life post-Nyx, but in a world where they're the only ones that remember the near-apocalypse, they have to find their answers in each other.(A collection of short pieces, as S.E.E.S tries to stumble back to something like normal life.)





	1. April 23rd, 2010

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to play around with a bunch of little ideas, since Minato surviving doesn't necessarily make everything magically wonderful. No idea how many chapters this will end up being; we'll see how it goes and how many people show up.
> 
> The title is from part of the lyrics to "Burn my Dread". Also, thank you to everyone who's read this series so far. This is the best response I've gotten to any of my writing in ages. I'm incredibly grateful.

“I don’t know why you thought flirting with Fuuka to get the answers was a good idea,” Minato said flatly. He was reclined on his bed, watching Ryoji, who was hunched over the desk with multiple textbooks and notebooks of homework assignments. “Literally everyone knows we’re dating. That won’t work on _anyone_ anymore.”

Ryoji flopped backwards in the chair pathetically. “It was worth a shot. I didn’t get it done yesterday.”

“And now you have twice as much to do. We’ve only been back in school for a few weeks and you’re already slacking. Guess that means you’re perfectly human.” Minato swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet, coming over to look upside-down at his boyfriend. “I’m going out. Try to be finished by this evening; I was hoping we could watch a movie.” His smile belied his deadpan tone.

“You’re just abandoning me?” Ryoji asked melodramatically, but he leaned up to peck Minato on the nose and then obediently picked his pencil back up. “Fine, fine. Bring takoyaki when you come back, okay?”

“You’ve got it.” Minato fetched his headphones from the side table and headed downstairs. The dorm wasn’t any less hospitable without Mitsuru and Akihiko. Ryoji had been given his own room, though it was mostly a formality, since he didn’t own many possessions and he slept in Minato’s room anyway. He, Junpei, Yukari, and Ken watched Featherman R together every weekend, and kept trying to rope Minato, Fuuka, and Aigis into it too. People continued to be oblivious to the fact that Aigis was part-robot, no one at Gekkoukan had questioned Ken still living in a high-school dorm, and the one time a faculty inspector had attempted to make them get rid of Koromaru, he was shut down by not only every member of S.E.E.S. still living there, but Mitsuru herself had come back to threaten several executions. Everything was going well, and yet for some reason, Minato felt uneasy. The feeling had been lurking in the back of his mind for weeks now, post-graduation. It came and went, but when it came, it was a bizarre notion that he should have died atop Tartarus that night.

He made his way towards Paulownia Mall, music filling his ears as he thought. He hadn’t talked to Ryoji about what he was thinking, even though the boy that was Death would probably understand his strange feeling that he shouldn’t be alive. He didn’t want to burden his boyfriend with an existential crisis when Ryoji was still getting used to the idea of being human in the first place. It wasn’t that he was feeling suicidal, but it was too hard to pin down exactly _what_ he was feeling enough to explain. He certainly didn’t _want_ to be dead, but...something felt wrong, like things weren’t meant to have happened this way.

After a cursory glance around, he slipped into the Velvet Room. The elevator was empty, and he picked a door at random and kept going. The room would know where he needed to be. At least, he hoped it would.

The hallway opened onto the lounge, and there was a man Minato had never seen before in there. It wasn’t a resident; he wasn’t blue enough for that. Minato had never met another guest before, so he hesitated in the doorway for a second, then came in and sat down heavily on the opposite end of the couch from the stranger. Both of them were silent for a long while, and finally the stranger said with a smile, “You must be the new Wild Card. Belladonna was telling me about you. Jeeze, we keep getting younger, don’t we?”

Minato glanced at him. “We?”

“Right, right. I’m Todou Naoya. Nice to meet you.” Naoya grinned, earrings glinting blue in the light from the lamps. “I’m a Wild Card, too, back from before we really knew what that meant. Did you ever hear about the crisis in Sumaru City? Or the demon invasion in Mikage-cho?”

“I’m Arisato Minato. And...I remember Sumaru City was on the news for a while when I was little for some reason. But not demons.”

Naoya nodded. “Fair enough. They weren't technically actual demons, and I think they tried to cover up everything that happened anyway. Between everything with Kandori, the Night Queen, Pandora…” At Minato’s startled gasp, he shrugged. “You’re not the first Wild Card to face Nyx. Though… you’re the only one to face her in a complete form.”

Minato gaped at him, stunned almost beyond words. “The Fall almost came once before?”

“No, not quite…” Naoya leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “I did a lot of researching after what happened. Hidehiko made fun of me, since I was never really interested in schoolwork, but I was seventeen at the time, and I wanted to know everything I could about being handed what seemed like superpowers.” He laughed to himself. “I ended up looking into the accident on the bridge when that happened, and learned about Nyx from the Kirijo group’s files. Which were not easy to gain access to, by the way. Anyway, we had found a cursed mask that possessed the wearer and summoned the Night Queen. She was going to bring about a version of the Fall in the form of an eternal night that would freeze the town permanently and kill everyone. It turned out, based on theories in the files, that that mask was housing a fragment of Nyx, from even before the mess with the Arcana Shadows.”

It made sense that that bits of Nyx had been locked away on Earth. Mitsuru had said once that plumes of dusk were fragments of Nyx’s power; a possessed mask wasn’t too much of a stretch. Minato scrutinized Naoya, wondering what sort of person could speak so casually about facing down even part of the Goddess of Death, but the man shrugged.

“Ah, what am I doing, blathering on about me? Something’s bothering you, right? The Velvet Room led you here to me, and nothing meaningless happens here, after all. What’s up?”

Minato hesitated. Naoya was a stranger, essentially, and an adult on top of that. But they were also the same; they shared the power of the Wild Card. So he said, very hesitantly, “I feel like… I feel like I was supposed to die.”

Naoya frowned. “Belladonna and Theodore filled me in on the basic gist of what happened. Why on earth would you think that you should be dead?”

“Because the Seal should have killed me. The only reason it didn’t is because Ryoji shared part of the cost to cast it, and he… He shouldn’t have had to do that. Now he’s tied to the Seal, too.” Minato bit his lip, well aware that what he was saying was irrational. “I knew the moment I left Tartarus to face Nyx that I wasn’t coming back. I didn’t care what happened to me as long as everyone else was safe.”

He took a breath, finally figuring out what the core of the problem was. “I was so prepared to die to protect everyone that it feels wrong that I didn’t!”

Naoya scooted across the couch to poke him in the forehead. “Hey, hey. Breathe. It’s all right. You went through a terrible ordeal; it’s only normal that your head’s a little rattled.” He waited until Minato made eye contact, then asked seriously, “Did...Ryoji, you said? Did he help cast the Seal voluntarily?”

“Yes, but--”

“If he did so of his own free will, then you don’t need to feel bad about it. It sounds like he likes you a lot,” Naoya pointed out. “And I seriously doubt that any of your friends would rather you be trapped in the Seal than here with them. You have a whole future ahead of you now, and unbreakable bonds with your friends. Don’t you want to be here in this world that you saved?”

Minato nodded very slowly. “I do.”

“The Wild Card is the power of limitless possibilities. The power to defy fate. And if your fate was to die, you overcame it, and here you are.” The older Wild Card smiled. “I consider myself lucky to have met the most powerful of all of us. I’m glad you’re not wholly the Seal, too.”

“The most powerful? Me?”

Naoya nodded. “No one else has ever achieved the Universe Arcana. Maya’s Moon, and I’m Emperor, which were strong enough to overcome our challenges, but your power is even greater. We’re still human, but you’re something even more." He chuckled. "Messiah's a fitting persona for the one who turned back the apocalypse.”

Minato stared down at his hands in embarrassment at the praise. “I should, uh… Ryoji’s waiting for me to pick up takoyaki. Um… Thank you. For listening.”

“We Wild Cards have to stick together,” Naoya assured him, unfazed by his blatant escape attempt. “If that feeling keeps bothering you, feel free to get ahold of me again. Here, wait, here’s my number.” He pulled out his phone, pulling up the number and handing it over to Minato so that he could copy it down. Normally Minato wouldn’t be so quick to exchange numbers with anyone, but he liked Naoya well enough. The other man gave off a reassuring aura. So he entered his own number into Naoya’s phone in return, and handed it back.

Bidding his farewells, he got up to leave, but turned back at the last minute. “Mitsuru-senpai said something about forming a group… Like special-ops, but for shadows and things that only persona-users can deal with. If you were interested in something like that…”

“Sounds like it could be interesting, and I’d be intrigued to meet Kirijo-san. I might be in touch.” Naoya lifted his hand in a wave. “Safe journey, Arisato-san.”

Minato returned the wave and hurried out of the Velvet Room before he could say anything embarrassing. It was a little weird to have someone many years his senior addressing him respectfully like that. If Naoya wasn’t kidding about him being the most powerful, it made sense, but it was still strange.

Although, maybe being the Universe was what was causing this feeling. Maybe he was sensing what _could_ have happened. His original fate, if he hadn't bothered to get to know Ryoji. It was an unnerving thought.

There was no line at the takoyaki stand, and when Minato finally made it back to the dorm, the textbooks were all in a stack and Ryoji was sprawled on the bed with Minato’s laptop, playing minesweeper. Minato set the takoyaki down, and when his boyfriend sat up Minato walked over and hugged him tightly.

“Huh?” Ryoji hugged him back, equally tight. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Minato said, muffled into his shoulder. “I’m just glad I’m here.”

Ryoji was completely confused, but smiled anyway. “So am I. Do you still want to watch a movie? I finished everything!”

Minato nodded. He’d have to tell Ryoji about meeting the other Wild Card eventually, but for now...he’d just appreciate the happiness that changing fate had given him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been doing some timeline research, and there seems to be a general consensus that Persona 1 was roughly 1996, which I’m pretty sure is just the release year but w/e. So Naoya as he appears here is roughly 31, going off of that.
> 
> Also I have no idea what powers go along with being the Universe, so I’m making it up as I go.


	2. April 28th, 2010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concept sounded funnier in my head than it does on paper, I think, but it's too late now. XD

There were a lot of things to adjust to after the new school year started, starting with the fact that the dorm had lost two residents and gained a new one. Mitsuru and Akihiko leaving had always been a given, but it was Ryoji moving in that had taken the most getting used to. And Yukari was fine with it, really she was, but no one had warned them ahead of time about full moons. At least, not the way they were now.

Everyone knew that their leader and Ryoji were a thing. It was kind of hard to miss, between how blatantly affectionate Ryoji was and Minato’s lack of concern about his personal space. Fuuka had found them making out on the roof once and had turned so red that she’d practically fallen down the stairs. And apparently, full moons still affected Ryoji a little bit as a former Arcana Shadow, and in turn affected Minato because of their bond. Neither of them turned into monstrous shadows, but they did end up with a lot of restless energy, which, without shadows to fight and when translated through the fact that both of them were teenage boys…

Was ‘lunatic’ the proper word in this case?

There was a crash from upstairs, and Yukari set her book down on the sofa with a sigh. Less than a minute later, Junpei came down the stairs in a hurry, laughing awkwardly.

“Forgot what day it was,” he said. “You’d think I’d be used to keeping track of full moons by now.”

“It’s not like they’re dangerous anymore, just annoying,” Yukari said peevishly, though she was privately grateful her room wasn’t right next door to them like Junpei’s. “Do you think they could keep it _down?”_

“I’m not willing to knock to find out.” Junpei shrugged. Not only was he not willing to barge in on his two best friends in that sort of situation, he wasn’t sure what he would find in the first place. They _were_ only mostly human, after all. “In any case, we’re the only ones in the dorm. Aigis and Ken are walking Koromaru, and Fuuka’s over at Natsuki’s studying for a test tomorrow.”

“Great.” Yukari watched him walk into the kitchen, then got up and followed, grabbing a glass down from a cabinet.

Junpei pulled a half-empty bag of chips out of the pantry. “I’d have got that for you,” he said.

“I’m perfectly capable of getting it myself,” she snapped, stalking over to the sink, and Junpei raised an eyebrow.

“Whoa, Yuka-tan, what’s eating you? You’re grouchier than usual, and I’m pretty sure it’s not just because it’s Minato and Ryoji’s monthly sex-fest.”

She growled, setting the glass down without filling it up. “I just don’t understand how everyone forgave him so easily. Even I feel like I’m not as mad at him as I should be. He was calling Nyx! He was literally Death, and our leader is _dating_ him!”

“You seemed fine with him. Hell, you watch Featherman with us. Does having him around bother you that much?” Junpei watched her for a second, then added, “Or maybe this is less about Ryoji and more about the fact that you still have a thing for Minato~”

“I do _not!”_ Belatedly, Yukari seemed to realize how defensive she sounded, and added, “I mean, I did at one point, but so did Fuuka and Mitsuru-senpai! What’s your point?”

“My point is, the look on your face says _‘Why him and not me?’_ And I would know. Jeeze, how do you think I felt when Chidori went back to Strega?” Junpei stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth. “It was the worst. But you’ve also probably gotta give Minato a little bit of a break.”

“What do you mean?” Yukari tried not to cringe at him talking with his mouth full.

Junpei gestured with the chip bag. “The guy didn’t seem like he even had any friends before he got here, much less a relationship. And he ‘dated’ a whole bunch of people last year. I don’t think he meant to hurt anybody or break any hearts; I think he was just figuring out how to relate to other people. You remember how weird he was at the beginning of the year, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…” It made sense, as much as Yukari didn’t like it. “I guess you’re going to say that all of that flirting Ryoji-kun did was the same thing? Learning to socialize?”

“Something like that.”

“When did you get so good at people?” Yukari sighed. She leaned against the sink, folding her arms. “I guess I could accept that interpretation, but knowing that the person he finally ended up with is Ryoji-kun stings a bit.”

“From your perspective, he’s pretty much dating the enemy, yeah?” Junpei pointed out with a grin.

Yukari huffed. “That’s not true! Ryoji-kun isn't our enemy anymore. Although…” She sighed. “It is sort of upsetting to know that you lost to the guy who was going to kill us all.”

Junpei shrugged. “He and Ryoji are almost literally soulmates. It’s hard to top that.”

“Yeah…” Yukari finally got her glass of water, and glanced over at him. “I actually feel better, now that I’ve said it out loud. And...it’s really not fair to Ryoji-kun to be mad at him that Minato-kun likes him better. So, uh...thank you.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” Junpei grinned, offering her the bag of chips. There was a bang from somewhere overhead and a muffled cry through the ceiling, and he glanced upwards. “On that note, wanna go cut on something loud and full of explosions and try to kill their mood?”

Yukari took the chips, smiling despite herself. “That sounds _perfect._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game seems to lean towards Yukari as the Love Interest, at least at the beginning. The movie, on the other hand, implies solidly that it’s Aigis. So I went with Yukari’s interest in him from the game combined with his general lack of social skills from the movie and ended up here. Assuming, of course, that Ryoji’s social link was the only one he maxed romantically, even if he went out with the others somewhere along the way.
> 
> You would not believe the discussions I’ve had with my brother over this. He’s firmly in the Minato+Aigis=OTP camp. I do find it amusing that neither of us ship Minato with anyone human, though. A whole world of people to choose from and we pick the robot and Literally Death. XD


	3. May 5th, 2010

“You know, at one point, I wondered what would have happened if you had just shot me in November.”

“What?” Aigis looked over at Ryoji, who was sitting slumped with his chin resting on the bar of the railing that ran around the dorm roof. His legs dangled over the side, and he wasn’t looking at her. She wasn’t even sure he’d been talking to her, but then he spoke again.

“It was back in December,” he said, and that hint of melancholy from December 3rd had crept back into his voice. “While I was waiting for your answer. I just sort of...drifted around. Sometimes I kept an eye on Minato and all of you, but mostly I was alone. And I thought a lot.”

“And part of your thoughts included me shooting you? I do not understand,” Aigis said, frowning. They had been up here alone for at least an hour, just watching the city, and neither had spoken the entire time. So the sudden topic was confusing, to say the least. Maybe he was feeling nostalgic. Today was exactly two months after graduation, after all.

Ryoji laughed. “I’m not even sure if you could have. I was still Death, just...amnesiatic. I wonder if it would have triggered me to remember earlier, if you’d shot me and I didn’t die.” He pushed his scarf down when a gust of wind lifted it up over his mouth, and continued, “I know this is the best possible ending, but I still can’t help but wonder, if I’d annoyed you just a little more… If I’d ever woken up during the Dark Hour… If I’d just _noticed_ how weird my life was…”

“I would not have shot you,” Aigis said, and Ryoji finally turned to look at her, his blue eyes puzzled. Aigis sat down beside him, leaning on the railing as well. “It would have upset Minato-san. I was angry and confused that he was not listening to my warnings, but I would not have shot someone that was making him happy, even if I could not understand why.” She sighed, and it was an incredibly human movement. “Junpei-san and Koromaru-san said that if someone was in love, you could say as much as you wanted about how bad the object of their affections was, and they would never hear it. I am now aware that that is the truth.”

“I can’t really begrudge you trying to keep him away from me. Look what I ended up doing to him, to all of them.” Ryoji laughed softly. “New Year’s Eve was a rough night.”

“But I see now that it was like that for you as well,” Aigis replied. “It hurt you to hurt Minato-san, even though you were not human. The incarnation of Death that I fought ten years ago would not have felt such emotions. You...were Ryoji-san. Not Death.”

Ryoji smiled at her, and for a moment she could see something of Minato in him, Minato’s influence making him what he was today. “He’s changed both of us for the better, I think. The Aigis I remember from ten years ago wouldn’t be so protective of a single human either.”

That just made her look sad. “We killed his family.”

“I know. But he doesn’t blame us. You know that, right?”

“I know. But I do not know why. It was our fault he grew up alone, with the Dark Hour.”

Ryoji shrugged. “It’s not like we did it on purpose. And neither of us were quite the us we are now. He’s too forgiving, really, but what are we supposed to expect from the wielder of Messiah? He smacked me when I tried to apologize for that night.”

That earned a small laugh from Aigis, and Ryoji’s eyes widened. “Hey, I made you laugh! People hitting me apparently does the trick.”

She smiled. “I do not always understand humor, but I do laugh sometimes.”

He bumped his shoulder against hers affectionately, returning the smile. “If he won’t accept an apology, we just have to do the best we can to make him happy, and to be happy. That’s what his power has given us: the chance to be happy in this world.”

“I...want to know what it means to be happy. To live and be happy.”

“You’ll get there,” Ryoji assured her. “Finding the Answer to Life isn't easy, but you’re as human as any of them, no matter which bits of you are made of metal.”

Aigis looked as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated. Ryoji waited patiently, curious, and finally she said quietly, “I am glad that we are friends now, Ryoji-san.”

She was being so sincere, he couldn’t bear saying anything even remotely teasing. So he just replied, equally quietly, “So am I, Aigis.”

They stayed up there a while longer, staring out at the sunset, two former enemies slowly becoming more human by the day. Ten years ago, the idea of them being friends would have been impossible, but now… it was just another small miracle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a post on tumblr somewhere that’s like “My writing swings between staring at an empty document for a year, or writing 10,000 words a day. There is no in-between.” Guess what side I’m on right now? XDDD
> 
> Aigis is hard for me, possibly because her English voice and her Japanese voice are so different, at least when it comes to the voice in the movies. She sounds completely human there, whereas in the English games there’s a definite robotic undertone. That’s what I ended up trying to picture as I wrote, because I really do like the English voices (except probably Elizabeth XD).


	4. May 16th, 2010

Apparently part of being the Universe, combined with the Velvet Room door being partially keyed to a guest’s mental state, meant that tripping and falling into the collective unconscious was actually a thing that could happen. Which Minato and Ryoji found out one day when Margaret called and asked them to come to the Velvet Room, and instead of stepping into the elevator they stumbled into a black abyss filled with stars.

Minato wasn’t even sure how Margaret had gotten his number, but that was really the least of their problems, because the door had shut behind them and promptly vanished.

Ryoji was looking exceptionally nervous. “What if we can’t get back out?” he asked, wringing his hands. “I spent enough time here; I’d really rather not stay. And mid-terms start tomorrow!”

“We’re here for a reason,” Minato said. “Margaret didn’t say there was a problem. And nothing meaningless happens in the Velvet Room.”

“You’ve been spending too much time around the Blue Squad. And I don’t know if this counts as the Velvet Room.” But Ryoji linked their fingers, mostly to ground himself, and looked around. “Let’s go see, then, but I still really don’t like this.”

Minato smiled to himself as they started walking. “You don’t have some kind of line?” He gestured around with his free hand, and Ryoji tilted his head curiously.

“You mean like, ‘These stars are nothing in comparison to the stars in your eyes’?” he said after a moment, giggling.

“You had to think about it.”

“Lines never worked on you anyway. It was effortless with girls. You took an exceptional amount of effort.” Ryoji yanked him close enough to kiss his cheek, then looked around. “I guess this isn’t so bad, but I wish we knew what we were looking for.”

Minato just shrugged, and they walked onwards, scanning what landscape there was for anything strange. He really hoped that the Velvet siblings would come bail them out if they got too lost, but for now, it was actually rather beautiful in the collective unconscious.

As long as they didn’t stumble on the Door. Neither of them were prepared to face Erebus’s prowling nightmare.

But it turned out that the first thing they saw was two other people, also with joined hands, coming towards them. No one said anything, and the other pair visibly slowed their approach. As they got closer, Minato realized that it was a girl, with auburn hair and the Gekkoukan uniform, and a very familiar man… When they stopped, about ten feet apart, he stared in shock, the girl doing the same, and at the same time they blurted,

“Shinjiro-senpai?!”

“Ryoji-kun?!”

Shinjiro glanced at the girl. “Who are those two?”

“I don’t recognize either of them,” Ryoji added.

Minato realized abruptly that of course those two wouldn’t have met each other. Shinjiro had died before Ryoji ‘transferred’. The girl, though...of course Ryoji wouldn’t know her either. Minato barely recognized her, since when he’d last seen her they’d both been much younger. But he focused on her deep scarlet eyes and smiled.

“Hamuko.”

Her eyes widened. “M-Minato?!”

“Who?!” Shinjiro and Ryoji were getting steadily more agitated at not understanding anything, but Hamuko and Minato rushed forward and embraced tightly. As their companions stared at each other with matching expressions of bafflement, the two clung to each other desperately. They only let go when Ryoji said casually, “I’m not sure whether I should be jealous or not. She’s beautiful, but I am right here, Minato.”

Minato choked on a laugh, muffling it in Hamuko’s shoulder before straightening up. “No, Hamuko is my sister, Ryoji.”

“Your sister?!”

“You have a brother and didn’t tell me?” Shinjiro demanded, looking blatantly caught off-guard.

Hamuko laughed. “This must be a miracle,” she said in a frazzled voice. “I didn’t tell you because my twin brother is dead. He died in the car wreck.”

“My sister died in the wreck,” Minato said. “Do you think...are we from different timelines? Could that happen?” He looked to Ryoji, who lifted his hands helplessly.

“Hey, don’t ask me. Branching timelines is as valid a theory as any, but I’ve never seen one.”

He looked back at Hamuko. “In my world, you died in the crash with our parents. But… Shinjiro-senpai is dead too. Takaya shot him in October.”

“That still happened,” Shinjiro said bluntly. “My pocketwatch blocked one of the bullets. I was in a coma ‘til the end of the year. It’s all thanks to Hamuko here. If she hadn’t found my watch…”

Minato hadn’t even known he owned a watch. It caused a brief flare of that guilt from October, thinking that if he had just known, he might have been able to keep Shinjiro alive. Might have been able to spare Akihiko and Mitsuru and Ken all of their grief and suffering. But then again… Maybe it was something _he_ couldn’t do. Maybe _because_ it was his sister instead of him, Shinjiro had been more open.

Hamuko tugged on Minato’s sleeve, drawing him out of his thoughts. “How is Ryoji alive? Have you not… Do you not know? What day is it for you?”

Minato realized abruptly that she was afraid it was still November. That he and Ryoji were still blissfully ignorant of what was to come. He shook his head quickly. “May 16th, 2010. It’s over, it’s all over. We beat Nyx. Together.”

Hamuko glanced at Ryoji. “It’s May 16th for me, too. But…”

“He’s...human now. Sort of. It’s a long story, but apparently it was my influence that made him like that. I’m...so grateful.”

Ryoji wrapped an arm around his shoulders, nodding. “I love him so much, Hamu-chan.”

To their immense surprise, Hamuko’s expression fell. “He… formed a bond with you, right?” she asked, sounding scared. “Spent time with you?”

“Yes,” Ryoji replied. “I didn’t know why, at the time, but I felt like I knew him from the very beginning, and we got to know each other. But it was frightening, too, because I knew subconsciously that something was wrong.”

“So if I had...spent time with him… with my world’s Ryoji…”

Ryoji stepped forward and cupped her face in his hands, as he did so often for Minato, and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“I know how I feel about your brother, but I also know...that it wouldn’t have mattered,” he said very softly. “That other me would have loved you just the same, male or female.”

Hamuko’s eyes filled with tears, and she crumpled against his chest. “I could have saved him,” she said, her voice thick with anguish. “He said I felt familiar, like we knew each other already, but things were so busy, and Shinji was in the hospital and I was so worried, and then…there wasn’t any time!”

“Hamu-chan,” Ryoji said, squeezing her. “It’s okay. It’s okay… In the end… It would have been easier.”

“Easier?” Shinjiro asked gruffly. “She’s bawling her eyes out because our version of you is dead, and you’re telling us that was easier?”

But Minato shook his head, stepping forward to rest his hand comfortingly on his sister’s back, knowing exactly what Ryoji meant. “It was coming to a fight no matter what, Shinjiro-senpai,” he said. “No matter how we spent November, our destination was the top of Tartarus, with our swords at each other’s throats. I’m _glad_ that the two of them didn’t have to suffer the way we did, thinking there was no way to avoid one of us killing our soulmate.”

Hamuko sniffled into Ryoji’s shirt, but finally pulled back, scrubbing at her eyes. “You guys must have been so scared,” she said, “but I guess that’s why you were strong enough to cast the Seal and not die. You were together.”

Minato hadn’t thought of that. “That’s right... You… Oh, god, you would have died. How are you not dead?” The Seal would have taken everything from him. The only reason he was still alive was because Ryoji had shared the burden. How had his sister made it through unscathed?

She smiled weakly. “I hesitated,” she said, with a choked giggle. “Right at the end. I knew it would kill me and for a moment I hesitated because I didn’t want to leave them. Shinji and Aigis and everyone. I knew I had to do it, to protect them, but if our worlds are running concurrently… That moment meant you cast the Seal first.”

“I think, because the collective unconscious spans all worlds, though Nyx was descending in both timelines, we only needed one Seal,” Ryoji finished. “Or maybe power bled over from our Seal to yours, so it didn’t have to take all of you. All you would have needed was just a tiny bit.” It was all speculation, but for once it was positive speculation, so no one was going to object.

“I went back to school, and on graduation day I woke up and remembered everything. Shinji met me on the roof, and then everyone else came, and here we are.” Hamuko shuddered. “It could have been so much worse.”

“But it wasn’t. You’re not dead, I’m not dead, and this idiot and your dead twin brother are gonna live happily ever after in another world. I think that means everyone wins.” But despite his blunt words, Shinjiro wrapped an arm around her, letting her lean into him.

“Don’t call my idiot an idiot, senpai,” Minato countered. Ryoji and Hamuko stared at him, then started laughing, and even Shinjiro cracked a smile.

They spent a long time talking, discussing the little things that made their worlds different. Fuuka was learning to be a much better cook in Hamuko’s world, with her and Shinjiro’s help. Minato’s group had escaped the executions in the hot springs, while Hamuko and the girls had cornered the boys easily in their world. They each summoned Orpheus, marvelling at the differences between them, and chatted over different kinds of weapons. Minato didn’t even know what a naginata _was_ until she described it to him.

“How did you get here, though?” Minato asked at last. “Was it just a coincidence?”

“Some lady named Margaret called. She said she was Theo’s sister, and we should come to the Velvet Room,” Hamuko explained.

Minato and Ryoji stared at her. “You know Theodore?”

She grinned. “Yeah, he’s my Velvet Room attendant. Kind of a doof sometimes, but it sounds like his sister is hard on him.”

“Yeah, Elizabeth’s kind of…” But Minato paused, thinking hard, and then blurted, “Theodore knew?” He couldn’t believe it. “I’ve _met_ Theodore! I’ve talked to Theodore; he never once mentioned that he knew my sister, that my sister was safe in another world, nothing!”

For a moment, it looked like this might be the thing that finally drove the normally-calm Minato to get angry, but Shinjiro cut in, “They were probably just waiting to tell you until they were sure you could actually meet. Calm down.”

“Why not just let us meet in the Velvet Room, then? Why are we here?” Hamuko asked, looking around at their star-scattered surroundings.

“That was our intention, but clearly the two of you have demonstrated that the best-laid plans can often go awry.”

They all looked to where the voice was coming from, spotting a familiar blue door with Margaret leaning on the doorframe. She beckoned them in, and they filed one-by-one into a blue room that resembled a dance hall. Everyone grabbed stools at the bar, and Margaret folded her arms and smiled. “Theo and Elizabeth wished for you to have an opportunity to meet, but we were uncertain how bringing in people from opposing timelines would affect the room. That was even disregarding the fact that both of you wield the Universe Arcana. I suppose now we know, though we didn’t intend you to stumble into the Sea of Souls.”

Hamuko had grabbed Minato’s hand somewhere along the way, and she said, sounding overwhelmed, “It doesn’t matter. Thank you. Tell them thank you, please, please. I’ve gotten to meet my brother again; I never would have imagined that could be possible.”

Minato hesitated, his grip tightening on her hand. “...is this just once?” he said, bangs shadowing one eye as he looked at the floor.

Shinjiro and Ryoji looked from the twins to Margaret, suddenly concerned as they realized that this could be the only time they would get to see each other. Shinjiro was clearly already prepared to fight anything that might make Hamuko cry, and Ryoji’s stare had gone flat and inhuman, vaguely threatening.

Margaret ignored them, though, looking directly at Minato. “No,” she said, a note of pity in her voice. “We’ve properly adjusted for having both of you here now; there is no reason you cannot see each other again.” She understood, from talking to Elizabeth, how sensitive he was about losing people. They would not have given him the opportunity to meet his sister if there had been no way to manage it more than once. Elizabeth had insisted on figuring that out first.

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Ryoji patted Minato on the shoulder. “We have to tell Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai! And Ken-kun! They’ll be so happy!”

“What do we tell them, though? This sounds insane,” Minato said, now sounding as overwhelmed as Hamuko.

“I dunno if Aki’s gonna buy alternate timelines. I’m not sure I would if I wasn’t living it,” Shinjiro said pointedly.

Margaret slipped out of the room quietly, leaving them to talk, as Hamuko pointed out, “It’s not any more insane than a giant eye coming out of the moon, or extra hours in the day, or coffins in the streets. They’d be stupid if they didn’t believe you after everything we’ve done.”

“True…” Minato finally looked up, a smile lighting his face up. “We can worry about that when we get to it, I guess.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening in the Velvet Room, just talking and getting to know each other. No one got back to the dorms until past dinner; Ryoji and Minato grabbed burgers on the way home and ate on the way. They resolved to tell the rest of S.E.E.S. what had happened as soon as they could get hold of Mitsuru and Akihiko.

Their reactions were going to be priceless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I lean towards “Minako”, but considering I made them actual twins and not alternate universe counterparts, I thought it would be weird of their parents to name the twins Minato and Minako. So, Japanese fandom’s name it is.
> 
> Do I know why Hamuko’s alive when she didn’t have someone to tag-team the Seal with? Nope. Do I care? Nope. Literally all it would have taken was the equivalent of 1HP of bleed-over, to not die. I just want everyone to be happy, damn it. XD


	5. May 23rd, 2010

“Arisato, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking at,” Mitsuru said, staring pointedly at the empty niche beneath the karaoke bar.

The rest of S.E.E.S. standing clustered behind Mitsuru and Minato, minus Ryoji, looked equally puzzled. Minato frowned, hands in his pockets, and stared at the Velvet Room door as if he could will it into submission on the force of his gaze alone. He wanted them to _know._ He’d told them about the Velvet Room, of course, because he’d had to explain where he was disappearing to in Tartarus at least once, but seeing was believing. And if none of them could see the door, this wasn’t going to work the way he’d hoped.

He pulled the door open with a sharp motion and frowned at Igor. “I thought you said I could do this. Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai are only here for today. This has to work.”

Igor raised an eyebrow. “I said that it _might_ be possible. No miracle is beyond your reach, remember? But the strength of your heart might not be enough to allow the Velvet Room to be accessible for your friends. The Wild Cards are unique, and others are only able to see the room if they have high spiritual sensitivity.”

Minato sighed. “So I can’t just drag them through the doorway?”

“I would not recommend that, no.”

“But perhaps if you all joined hands in solidarity, you could share a bit of your power with them and allow them in!” Elizabeth said brightly, clapping her own hands together.

“I’m not sure holding hands is the answer, Elizabeth.”

Most of S.E.E.S. was thanking their lucky stars that it was later in the evening, and thus the few people at the mall were in restaurants or the karaoke bar. Because from their perspective, their leader had made a wide, sweeping gesture and then proceeded to start speaking to an empty wall. Ryoji couldn’t stop giggling at the looks on their faces as Minato, to them, had an entirely one-sided conversation about a nonexistent door.

“I’m definitely sensing something there, but I’m just not sure what. It doesn’t feel like shadows,” Fuuka said.

“They’re not shadows.” Minato sighed again, looking back over his shoulder. “It’s a blue elevator. It’s right there; I swear.”

“We believe you, leader, it’s just...not visible,” Yukari said awkwardly.

“You’ve all been here before. I’m really not sure what the problem is,” Elizabeth said, and Minato glanced at her, wondering what she meant. She seemed to realize she had slipped, and waved a hand dismissively. “Never mind, I misspoke.” Then, quieter, “And I don’t believe you came through the door that time…”

Minato stared at her, as if to communicate that they were going to discuss this later, and then closed his eyes, trying to think. He was the Universe; he should theoretically be all-powerful, and he was being thwarted by a door. Considering his attachment to a certain other door, it was almost insulting.

“You could see the door in Tartarus, right? Was that because of the Dark Hour?” he asked, mostly talking to himself. “Or is it because we haven’t had to fight in a while, and our senses are dulling?”

“That’s possible. They could always pretend this is Tartarus.” Ryoji walked over, patting him on the shoulder before scooting around him and heading into the room. S.E.E.S. let out a collective noise of surprise as, from their perspective, he just vanished into thin air. Minato huffed, closing the door and contemplating the ostentatious blue velvet, then swung it open again forcefully.

“Elizabeth, what if--”

But Fuuka gasped behind him. “Minato-kun, is...is that it? There’s...the shape of a door.”

It slowly became apparent that what the group was seeing, if not the door itself, was the rectangle of space of the doorway, through which the elevator was visible. Minato hung his head, taking a deep breath before muttering resignedly, “Whatever.” Whether they were less sensitive in the absence of the Dark Hour was a question for another day, but even if they couldn’t see the door itself, the opening was enough. “Come on, before you decide to lose sight of it again.”

All of S.E.E.S. in the elevator at once was a little much, but they made sure there was space for everyone, and Minato gestured at the two attendants. “This is Igor and Elizabeth; they used to help me manage my personas. Now they’re just my friends.”

“So this is that blue chick I saw you with that one time,” Junpei said. “I knew it didn’t look like anyone from our school.”

“Did you just bring us here to meet your friends, then?” Yukari asked.

Minato shook his head. He glanced at Igor, then continued, “There’s something else. I don’t think I ever told you, but I had a twin sister who died in the car wreck ten years ago, too. And there’s another timeline out there, where she survived instead of me, and it changed things.”

“Another timeline?” Akihiko asked skeptically. “Assuming that’s true, how do you know?”

Yukari marvelled at how easily he was able to speak of the wreck, remembering how traumatized he had been before. But now, he had a tiny smile on his face, and he said, “Because I met her. The Velvet Room is special like that. And one of the things that changed in her world, well…”

He gestured over at one of the other doors out of the elevator, which opened to reveal Shinjiro, a wry smile on his face. Mitsuru let out an uncharacteristic cry of shock, and Akihiko just stared, at a loss for words. It was Ken who finally choked out, “A-Aragaki-san…?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Shinjiro said, chuckling. “Minato, you might’ve warned them first. They look like they’re gonna faint.”

“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise!” Ryoji chimed from his perch on Igor’s desk.

That seemed to spur S.E.E.S. to move, and Mitsuru and Akihiko hurried forward to hug their friend, just to confirm that he was real and solid. Minato glanced again at Igor, who gave him a small, approving nod, and he smiled. 

They might not be his S.E.E.S., and he might not be their Shinjiro, but knowing he was okay even if it was in another world was reassuring. It might not be enough to heal the scar his death had left in their world, but if it could smooth it out just a little…

Well, that would be plenty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....I didn't MEAN to post this after midnight, but...welp. Happy May 23rd, everyone! X'''DDDD
> 
> Honestly I just thought the mental image of S.E.E.S. trying to figure out why Minato’s talking to an empty wall was funny. XD I’m assuming no one but the protagonist can see the Velvet Room doors in the real world, at least until prompted to the fact that they SHOULD be able to. There’s definitely conflicting info on the wiki of who can see it and when, and who is allowed inside. So don’t take this too seriously, I guess.
> 
> Two more chapters, I'm 99% sure, and then we'll move on to P4. They deserve a mostly uneventful school year. Yu's voice is a little harder for me to grasp, as opposed to Minato and Ryoji, but I'm working on it. Writing for a fandom that actually responds is more than enough motivation. :)


	6. August 14th, 2010

“Tokyo is so huge!” Ryoji chimed excitedly. He practically dragged Minato down the street, trying to look at everything at once as they made their way out of the train station and into the city proper. “Everything is so much bigger than Iwatodai; how do people not get vertigo?”

“Don’t know,” Minato said, though he allowed himself to be dragged with a faintly amused smile. “Maybe after we meet Mitsuru we can go sightseeing.”

They had been called during summer break by Mitsuru and Akihiko, asking them to come see them in Tokyo about the team they were trying to put together. Apparently the other dorm residents had gotten calls too, and Mitsuru had generously paid for everyone’s train tickets plus a night at a hotel, since it was a fair distance from Tatsumi Port Island to Tokyo. Minato and Ryoji had been in Yakushima, so that Ryoji could experience the beach, and it had taken a journey by bullet-train to get them to the city in a reasonable amount of time. Ryoji, predictably, had been thrilled with that as well.

(Minato had, too, but he refused to admit how much he’d enjoyed zooming through the countryside.)

“I want to go to Tokyo Tower!” Ryoji said brightly.

Minato stopped walking and stared at him. “Really? The _tower?_ Haven’t we had enough of towers?”

“Nope! I want to see what the city looks like from that high up! But we can do Harajuku after that and get crepes.” Ryoji blinked the biggest puppy-dog eyes Minato had ever seen. He knew that his boyfriend was just trying to bribe him with delicious food, but he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t working. He sighed, which Ryoji interpreted as surrender, and the skinny boy swung their hands excitedly. “I bet there’s all kinds of amazing stuff here!”

“Well, Mitsuru-senpai is expecting us, so maybe tone it down a little until afterwards.” Minato, at least, was secure in the fact that Ryoji wasn’t going to get lost. He’d traded in his bright-yellow scarf for a more August-appropriate bright-yellow t-shirt, and stuck out like the sun. When they arrived at Mitsuru’s office, even she raised an eyebrow at what an eyesore he was, but welcomed them in to join the rest of S.E.E.S..

“That should be everyone,” she said, and Junpei laughed from where he was kicked back on a couch.

“Did you guys get lost on the way or something?”

Minato rolled his eyes. “No, Ryoji wanted to look at literally everything.” He dodged easily as Ryoji swatted at him.

Fuuka giggled. “That sounds like Ryoji-kun.”

“Anyway, Mitsuru-senpai, why did you want to see all of us?” Ken asked, and Koromaru barked to second the question.

Mitsuru took a seat facing them, looking them all over. “Akihiko and I, as you know, are forming a group that we have decided to refer to as the Shadow Operatives. Our purpose will be to confront shadow-based threats that regular police or military are unequipped to handle, as Mochizuki has implied in the past that shadows were not permanently dispelled by the sealing of Nyx. We wanted to bring you all here to show you where we are planning to establish a permanent base, as well as extend offers of membership for permanent and reserve positions once you graduate.”

Yukari smiled. “You know you could just ask, and we’d be here, Mitsuru-senpai. You don’t have to be so formal.”

“W-Well, I have to be professional if I want this taken seriously. The general public is ignorant about shadows, after all.” Mitsuru looked flustered, but recovered quickly. “You all are dear friends, and while I would understand completely if this isn’t the sort of life you want, I wanted to give you the choice.”

“That’s what reserve membership would be for, though, right?” Ken asked.

“That’s right. We’d only call you in if something really bad was happening,” Akihiko replied.

“Like the Fall,” Aigis said quietly. She looked over at Mitsuru and nodded. “I will join. I am a Shadow Suppression Weapon. It is what I was created to do, and...I will enjoy working alongside you again.”

“Thank you, Aigis.” Mitsuru looked at the rest of them. “Don’t feel pressured to decide now. This is an offer that will always be open. In the meantime, please, have fun in Tokyo, and let’s meet for a late dinner this evening?”

Everyone agreed that that sounded good, and began eagerly chatting about what they were going to do in Tokyo. Mitsuru caught Minato by the shoulder before he could leave, and said, “I received a phone call from Nanjo Kei, one of the Kirijo group’s business partners. He said that a Todou Naoya had spoken to you, and that he and several of his friends were interested in the Shadow Operatives as well.”

“Oh, right. I spoke to Naoya-san just after graduation,” Minato admitted. “I mentioned you were working on something. He and his friends are persona-users as well, and they’re Wild Cards like me.”

“Good. I just wanted to confirm before I agreed to meet with them,” Mitsuru explained. “It’s good to know that there are more people out there with the potential.”

Minato nodded. They would probably like Naoya; he was laid-back, but definitely seemed like he could be serious if he had to. He promised Mitsuru that they’d meet her and Akihiko for dinner, and then grabbed Ryoji where he was poking around the office and headed out.

It turned out to be easier to hit Harajuku first, so Ryoji bought him a crepe filled to bursting with ice-cream and cheesecake, and they explored the stores for a while before getting back on the loop train to swing around to Tokyo Tower. The stop at Hamamatsucho wasn’t very crowded, and Ryoji pointed at the tower in the distance with a grin. “This shouldn’t be too hard. We can see it over all the buildings, so we’ll know if we’re going the right way.”

Minato let him drag him along by the hand again, watching the tower get closer and closer and having the weirdest feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t tell if it was just because it was a tower, or if something was actually wrong. Mitsuru’s office up in that building hadn’t made him feel weird, but for some reason this did.

Ryoji happily paid for their tickets, and the elevator to the observation deck was full of colored lights, which got Minato to relax a little. This was fun. A tourist trap, but fun. There was nothing to worry about. And the city truly did look spectacular from up here. The sun was setting, so the lights were just beginning to turn on, and they glittered all around, filling the skyline with a facsimile of stars.

“Thank you,” Ryoji said quietly, squeezing Minato’s hand as they stared out the window. “For a tower, it’s not so bad, right?”

“I guess not.” Minato smiled at him, and Ryoji leaned over to give him a kiss while no one was watching. It was nice, exploring the city with his boyfriend. It would be even nicer to get back to the beach, though.

“Excuse me, mister?”

Both of them turned around, and there was a little boy standing there, with an unruly mop of black hair and gunmetal grey eyes. He held up one hand, offering, “Do you want a piece of candy?”

It was a square of chocolate or something, and Minato decided to take it just to be polite. But when he went to pick it up, his fingers crushed it, and he realized that the wrapper had just been folded neatly back to _look_ like the chocolate was still there. The kid burst into giggles, and Ryoji laughed, too.

“Looks like we’ve got a little trickster here, Minato,” he said, grinning at the kid. “We better watch out for this one.”

There was the sound of a woman’s voice calling out in the distance, and the boy looked over his shoulder before waving at them and running off. As Minato watched him go, that weird feeling surged high, and he stared in shock as he spotted a half-familiar blue butterfly perched in the child’s hair. “Ryoji, did you see--?”

“Yeah.” Ryoji looked equally surprised, and he rocked back on his heels. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing Mitsuru-senpai’s forming this group. It looks like the future is going to be pretty interesting.”

They lost sight of the child in the crowd on the deck, but Minato had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last they’d see of him. He leaned against Ryoji, a faint smile on his face. It was good to know that, if something happened in the future, there would be people there to face it head-on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s pretty much how I got to Tokyo Tower when I went. “What’s the closest train stop?” followed by just walking towards it til I got there. XD I dunno if the Shadow Operatives are based in Tokyo, but between the shinkansen and Narita Airport it seemed like a pretty centralized location to pick. Even though Iwatodai seems much closer to Kyoto. *shrug*
> 
> (...he’s ten, by the way.)


	7. Winter, 2010/2011

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of a montage, since it was a lot of little things that weren’t enough for a chapter on their own. Also it's basically straight fluff. X'''D

On December 2nd, Minato, Aigis, and Ryoji walked out to the Moonlight Bridge at midnight. Minato brought flowers for his parents, throwing them one-by-one into the water below.

They stayed up there a long time, saying nothing, Minato holding Ryoji’s hand in one of his and Aigis’s in the other. Tragedy had taken his family from him, but it had given him a new one as well, and he would never stop being grateful for them.

xxx

In contrast to last Christmas, this one might have been the best they’d ever had.

Aigis knew the motions but not the meaning, and Ryoji knew the meaning but not the motions, and S.E.E.S. was happy to show them how much fun it was to bake cookies and decorate a tree together on Christmas Eve. And when they were all sufficiently sugar-addled and had piled presents beneath the tree, they attempted to go to sleep.

Even the Velvet siblings stopped by during the celebration the following day, when they were half-buried in wrapping paper and tinsel. Minato went back to the Velvet Room with them afterwards, and there he discovered that twins really did think alike when he exchanged gifts with Hamuko and discovered that they’d given each other a mix CD. They liked a surprising amount of the same genres and artists, but Minato was certain that, despite knowing the artist, at least one of those songs didn’t exist in his world. He was pretty sure the same was true for her.

His gift from Ryoji was his favorite, though. It was a set of tarot cards, with pictures of all of his friends on the major arcana. Ryoji admitted to asking Elizabeth for help with the arcana, and calling in several favors for photoshopping the cards. The only one that wasn’t a photo was the Death card. Instead, it was a sketch of a child, in striped pajamas. Minato stared at it for a long time, smiling shakily, and didn’t need to say a word. Ryoji knew already.

xxx

New Year’s Eve was an explosion of color and lights, as S.E.E.S. took to the roof of the dorm with sparklers and miniature firework fountains. Akihiko insisted on fire extinguishers, but nothing stopped the younger members from gallivanting around the roof with sparklers in every color. Even Ken, who usually tried so hard to be mature, couldn’t help but join in as they tried to write their names in light. Ryoji, sans his very flammable scarf, spun around with a full six sparklers held between his fingers, a whirling dervish of rainbow glitter, as if determined to make up for how miserable the previous New Year's had been.

They watched the fireworks display out over the water that was put on by the city, drank an exorbitant amount of sparkling cider, and made plans to go to the shrine the following day. A new year was dawning, and the future had never looked brighter.

xxx

It rained on January 31st. They had been planning to sneak up to the school roof, just to commemorate the anniversary of their victory, but instead plans had dwindled to nothing and most of S.E.E.S. had retreated to their own rooms, letting the last day of a reborn year tick away.

“Ryoji?” Minato said, almost inaudible against the pillow.

“Hm?” Ryoji’s arms tightened around him for a moment, signifying that he was listening from where he was pressed against Minato’s back. They were just lying in bed, watching the window. Even a year later, it was hard to shake the feeling that any night, the world could shatter back into green and blood, even with the Seal still firmly in place.

Minato was quiet just long enough that his boyfriend started to wonder if he’d dozed off, but then said, “...what...would the Fall have been like?” They had been so focused on working towards averting it, they had never stopped to consider what would have happened if they failed.

He felt Ryoji’s breathing hitch, just the tiniest bit, and almost immediately regretted asking. But Ryoji bowed his head, burying his nose in Minato’s hair and saying quietly, “Painless. Other than the fear of anticipation. Nyx...isn’t cruel.”

“I know. It’s too easy to think of it like that, though.” Minato rolled over so that he could wrap his arms around Ryoji in return. “But Nyx was merely responding to us, to humans. And someone cruel wouldn’t have given me you. I wasn’t enough alone. I couldn’t have called you back if she didn’t let you go.”

Ryoji made a noise that might have been a laugh, or a choked sob. “I have never gotten to enjoy the world before. I only appear at the end, when all is about to die, and I have never been human first. Perhaps my ‘mother’ felt pity for me. Or perhaps she was trying to kill what had become human.”

Minato pressed his lips to Ryoji’s pulse, proof that he was living and human. “Considering what day it is…” he said. “You were given one year, to go forth without falter with your heart as your guide. Are you happy?”

“That’s…” He knew the words, of course. That long-ago contract, signed and sealed and leading them both to journey’s end. “Of course I’m happy. I’ve been happier in one year as a human than I ever was before.”

“Then that’s what’s important, I think, no matter what Nyx or anything else might have intended,” Minato said. He shifted up so that he could lean their foreheads together and look into Ryoji’s impossibly blue eyes. “And if little by little, we can make other people just as happy...maybe one day, we won’t even need the Seal.”

Ryoji smiled up at him. “That would be a wonderful world.”

As January 31st came to an end, a year since the Fall had nearly come, the members of S.E.E.S. went to sleep knowing, without a doubt, that things could only continue to get better from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a specific pair of songs I had in mind for their CDs, if anyone wants to guess, though there is an equally valid second answer as well. ;)
> 
> I think I'm going to try to handle Persona 4 the way that the Golden anime did: focus on the new stuff, and skim the things people already know. Because I know for a fact that I don't have the fortitude for a straight-up novelization. Tried that once. It didn't go so well. X'D So give me a bit to get that together, because I want to do justice to what I see in my head.


End file.
